Why did Apartheid come to an end in 1994?

The ANC now had some control, but they recognised that they had to use their newly gained power to their advantage, and they would not go about it lightly. The cause of action that they took was in the form of strikes and demonstrations. The first of these was during 1950 and became known to the protesters as " the national day of protest", this outraged the white population, however it also proved to them that the blacks no longer valued the control placed on them as they used to. And were ready to defy the laws placed on them.

Their protests continued in 1952, as the Defiance Campaign Once again dented the pride of the whites, which had seriously underestimated the power that the blacks had when they pulled together. The whites were now getting fearful, they did not expect the protesters to take the cause of action that they had, and if they were capable of taking this action what else were they capable of? The whites feared they were loosing power and unfortunately for them the blacks were gaining it. This is important to the abolishment of Apartheid as it shows the first signs of a shift in power.

Around this time two other activist groups emerged, they were the PAC and the ARC. However these groups were unlike the ANC, as they preferred to use violence, although it was still important because it put more pressure on the Government.

The second Phase of defiance came in the form of the Freedom Charter, and resultantly the Treason Trials. In both of these events Nelson Mandela played a prominent role. The Freedom Charter took place in 1955, when the major Resistance groups came together and presented awards to the prominent indivi8duals of the resistance, these were Father Trevor Huddleston (a white English priest), Yusuf Dadoo (the Asian resistance leader) and Albert Lutulli (President of the ANC). The meeting had a great significance as it brought together all the apartheid opposing races, and united them. However Yusuf Dadoo and Albert Lutulli were not allowed were not allowed to collect the awards as they were banned from taking part in political activities, although this restriction did not stop others who were banned, Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu decided to attend, however they were arrested, as the freedom charter was read out.

The Freedom Charter was important because as Nelson Mandela Said " it captured the hopes and dreams of the people, and acted as a blueprint for the liberation and struggle and the future on the nation ". I allowed people to believe that their hopes for the future could come true (see source 2).

The Freedom Charter unfortunately did not only have a positive outcome, the negative side was the treason trials which saw 156 people from all races and all walks of life accused of treason, and then proved innocent. This had both a positive and negative impact on the defiance as it further united the oppressed races, and a negative effect because it prevented many of resistance leaders from taking part in protest, and they were seriously weakened in the perspective.

The next event was the most shocking and had a hug impact on South Africa and the rest of the world. In 1950, 5000 people from the ANC and pnc arrived at Sharpville police station. The crowd became hostile and those at the front trampled the barriers, the policemen panicked and began to shoot into the crowd. 69 innocent people were killed, and 180 were wounded. Some say it was due to the fact that the ANC and PNC were trying to upstage each other and this resulted in a bustle. However no matter how the disaster started all international eyes were now on South Africa's government, and due to this business and trade suffered. Many white South Africans began to support the protesters through sympathy for the victims, and so strengthened their support. However the government noticed this problem and addressed it by banning the ANC. This had negative affect on the resistance but also made them more determined to succeed in destroying apartheid. This ambition increased further as more protesters died at Langa and at other demonstrations.

This action prompted two ex-ANC members to go 'underground' with Oliver Tambo setting up the ANC in exile, and Nelson Mandela Organising the spear of people. Although they had positive attitude in mind these were soon destroyed as the leaders of the banned ANC and the newly established ' spear of people' were arrested, including Nelson Mandela and a year later were sentenced to life imprisonment. This seriously hindered the actions taken by activists that died down to almost a standstill. In the public's eyes Mandela was their saviour, who could lead to the abolishment of apartheid, without him they effectively gave up hope on achieving the dreams, I instead of protesting for their own freedom from apartheid, they began to protest for Mandela's release.

However Black opposition still stood strong in some cases. With a new leader in the form of Steve Biko. Biko was a powerful writer and speaker that made an immediate impact on all of the races. He thought that blacks would never gain their freedom unless they stopped depending on the whites. He led the Black consensuses movements that set up community services for blacks without white help. Proving to the whites that the blacks were still strong without Mandela. This was quite important because it once again raised the hopes of the oppressed races.

Unfortunately this positive atmosphere did not continue. In 1976 the Soweto riots took place. The protests lasted for months but were finally brought to an end when the army and police once again opened fire on the crowds and once again many died. This horrible outcome still had a positive effect as the Afrikaans recognised just how determined the restricted races were to regain freedom, they had seriously underestimated the black power and were now beginning to believe that it was possible for them to overthrow apartheid.

Over the next years black resistance grew stronger, as the power of the government grew weaker they saw that the end of Apartheid was inevitable. The resistance organisations continued to protest for Mandela's release. It was a long time before the government finally gave in.

In February 1990 Mandela was finally released along with those convicted with the same crimes as him. The event had the greatest significance towards the abolishment of Apartheid in 1994,because slowly the government were discreetly surrendering to the increasing power of the black resistance, by 1990 they could not stand strong any longer. They withdrew the apart laws and that same year abolished the Apartheid system.

I believe that this was due to many factors that built the strength and power of the black resistance more and more until they gained more power than the dominant whites and were able to overthrow them and the laws that restricted them. The most important of these factors was the work of Nelson Mandela, as it captures the hopes and dreams of the nation and united them to make them stronger. Also because his strength and determination inspired his followers and made them stronger to resist the afflictions placed upon them. Once the government noticed the end was inevitable they decided to give up and keep their dignity.

So I conclude that apartheid come to an end in 1994, because due to may different events the strength of the resistance grew stronger and stronger along with their hopes and dreams these dreams were captured by nelson Mandela and other prominent individuals who convinced the oppressed races that their dreams could become a reality, if they did not give up. When Nelson Mandela was put in prison the resistance suffered a consolidation in defiance. However soon the power of Nelson Mandela was remembered and from then on the public longed for his power once again. When he released the resistance become unstoppable to conserve peace the government abolished apartheid.